Ice maker

ABSTRACT

An ice maker is disclosed. The ice maker includes: an ice-making room S 1  having a module for producing and keeping ices; a machine room S 2  including a first pump  45  circulating ice-making water and a condenser  73  cooling a refrigerant; and a condenser cooling system  80  disposed close to the condenser  73 , in which the condenser cooling system  80  includes: a humidifying module  81  disposed close to the condenser  73 ; a cooling water storage  82  disposed under the humidifying module  81  and connected with a water level control pipe  29  connected to the ice-making room S 1 ; a discharger  83  connected to the cooling water storage  82  through a valve  831 ; and a second pump  84  supplying cooling water in the cooling water storage  82  to the humidifying module  81  through a cooling water circulation pipe  85.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an ice maker, and more particularly, toan ice maker in which cooling efficiency of a condenser is improved.

BACKGROUND ART

An ice maker is a device continuously producing ices in a predeterminedshape. Ice makers are generally used at home, restaurants, cafes, andthe like. An ice maker is largely composed of an ice-making room forproducing and keeping ices and a machine room where a cooling system forcirculating a refrigerant and cooling is disposed.

The refrigerant requires exchanging heat well through the machine roomfor smooth operation of the ice maker. An air cooling type using acooling fan and a water cooling type using water are used to increasethe efficiency of heat exchange in the machine room.

The air cooling type makes it difficult to replace a filter and removedirt for the feature of ice makers installed in small spaces, while thewater cooling type wastes a large amount of water. Accordingly, it isrequired to develop a new type of ice maker supplementing thesedrawbacks.

There are Korean Patent Application Publication Nos. 10-2001-0051251 and10-2006-0036986 in relation with an ice maker.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is directed to providing an ice maker of which acondenser has improved cooling efficiency by using ice-separating waterat 5 to 9° C., which has been wasted by overflowing a water levelcontrol pipe, for cooling the condenser.

Further, the present invention provides an ice maker capable of keepingcooling a condenser with clean and cold cooling water by continuouslysupplying cooling water to a humidifying module by circulating coolingwater in a cooling water storage, draining the cooling water in thecooling water storage before ice-separating, and receiving new coolingwater through a water level control pipe in ice-separating.

Further, the present invention provides an ice maker capable of sweepingup dirt on a humidifying module by sending cooling water down throughthe humidifying module.

Technical Solution

One aspect of the present invention provides an ice maker that includes:an ice-making room S1 having a module for producing and keeping ices; amachine room S2 including a first pump 45 circulating ice-making waterand a condenser 73 cooling a refrigerant; and a condenser cooling system80 disposed close to the condenser 73, in which the condenser coolingsystem 80 includes: a humidifying module 81 disposed close to thecondenser 73; a cooling water storage 82 disposed under the humidifyingmodule 81 and connected with a water level control pipe 29 connected tothe ice-making room S1; a discharger 83 connected to the cooling waterstorage 82 through a valve 831; and a second pump 84 supplying coolingwater in the cooling water storage 82 to the humidifying module 81through a cooling water circulation pipe 85.

Further, the ice maker may further include a controller that closes thevalve 831 in an ice-making process so that the second pump 84 circularlysupplies cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 to thehumidifying module 81, that opens the valve 831 before an ice-separatingprocess so that the cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 isdischarged outside, and that closes the valve 831 in the ice-separatingprocess so that ice-separating water overflowing the water level controlpipe 29 flows into the cooling water storage 82.

Further, the humidifying module 81 may include: a spray pipe 811; and acooling pad 812 disposed under the spray pipe 811 and functioning as aseparator so that cooling water sprayed from the spray pipe 811 can flowin a zigzag shape.

Further, a porous spray pad 813 may be disposed between the spray pipe811 and the cooling pad 812.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, for an ice maker, it is possible toimprove efficiency of cooling a condenser by using ice-separating waterat 5 to 9° C., which has been wasted by overflowing a water levelcontrol pipe, for cooling the condenser.

Further, according to the present invention, for an ice maker, it ispossible to keep cooling a condenser with clean and cold cooling waterby continuously supplying cooling water to a humidifying module bycirculating cooling water in a cooling water storage, draining thecooling water in the cooling water storage before ice-separating, andreceiving new cooling water through a water level control pipe inice-separating.

Further, according to the present invention, for an ice maker, it ispossible to sweep up dirt on a humidifying module by sending coolingwater down through the humidifying module.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional configuration of anice maker according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a humidifying module accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anice maker that includes: an ice-making room S1 having a module forproducing and keeping ices; a machine room S2 including a first pump 45circulating ice-making water and a condenser 73 cooling a refrigerant;and a condenser cooling system 80 disposed close to the condenser 73, inwhich the condenser cooling system 80 includes: a humidifying module 81disposed close to the condenser 73; a cooling water storage 82 disposedunder the humidifying module 81 and connected with a water level controlpipe 29 connected to the ice-making room S1; a discharger 83 connectedto the cooling water storage 82 through a valve 831; and a second pump84 supplying cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 to thehumidifying module 81 through a cooling water circulation pipe 85.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, butthose are provided only for explaining the present invention for thoseskilled in the art to easily achieve the present invention and thespirit and scope of the present invention are not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional configuration of anice maker according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionand FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a humidifying moduleaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

An ice maker 100 according to an embodiment includes: an ice-making roomS1 having a module for producing and keeping ices; a machine room S2including a first pump 45 circulating ice-making water and a condenser73 cooling a refrigerant; and a condenser cooling system 80 disposedclose to the condenser 73, in which the condenser cooling system 80includes: a humidifying module 81 disposed close to the condenser 73; acooling water storage 82 disposed under the humidifying module 81 andconnected with a water level control pipe 29 connected to the ice-makingroom S1; a discharger 83 connected to the cooling water storage 82through a valve 831; and a second pump 84 supplying cooling water in thecooling water storage 82 to the humidifying module 81 through a coolingwater circulation pipe 85.

The ice maker 100 of the present embodiment is characterized by coolingthe condenser 73, using ice-separating water, which has been wasted byoverflowing the water level control pipe 29 from the ice-making room S1in the past, and water melting out of a bin 50 as cooling water.

Further, in an ice-making process by the ice maker 100 of the presentembodiment, the cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 iscircularly supplied to the humidifying module 81. Thereafter, before anice-separating process, it is circularly supplied to the humidifyingmodule 81, temperature increases and cooling water with foreignsubstances is discharged out of the cooling water storage 82.Thereafter, ice-separating water overflowing the water level controlpipe 29 in the ice-separating process and water produced by melting ofices in the bin 50 are kept in the cooling water storage 82 and used asnew cooling water. Accordingly, clean and cold cooling water can alwaysbe kept in the cooling water storage 82 and supplied to the humidifyingmodule 81. Therefore, it is possible to increase efficiency of coolingthe condenser 73 and flush dirt in the humidifying module 81.

The ice maker 100 of the present embodiment includes the configurationof other common ice makers, so the basic operation principle andconfiguration of those ice makers will be described first and then thetechnical features of the ice maker 100 of the present embodiment willbe described.

1. Common Principle of Ice Maker

The ice maker 100 is a device basically continuously producing ices in apredetermined shape (for example, a cube). Ices produced in apredetermined shape are automatically kept in the bin 50 of theice-making room S1. This is the difference from a refrigeratormaintaining a specific temperature.

Similar to common ice makers, the ice maker 100 of the presentembodiment includes: the ice-making room S1 for producing and keepingices; and the machine room S2 where the first pump 45 for circulatingice-making water and the cooling system for circulating a refrigerantand cooling are disposed.

The ice maker 100 produces ices in a predetermined shape by repeatingthe ice-making process and the ice-separating process.

As for the ice-making process first, an ice-making frame 30 is disposedat the upper portion in the ice-making room S1. The ice-making frame 30is open at the bottom and closed at the top, corresponding to the shapeof desired ices. A plurality of ice-making frames 30 is sequentiallyarranged.

An evaporator 32 is coupled to the ice-making frame 30. The evaporator32 is a pipe and a low-temperature refrigerant cools the ice-makingframe 30 while flowing through the evaporator 32 in the ice-makingprocess. Accordingly, the surface of the ice-making frame 30 ismaintained at a low temperature of 10° C. or less. In contrast, in theice-separating process, a high-temperature refrigerant flows through theevaporator 32 and increases the surface temperature of the ice-makingframe 30.

A tub 20 is disposed under the ice-making frames 30. Water in the tub 20is supplied upward to the ice-making frames 30 through a spray nozzle 26by the first pump 45. The water sprayed to the ice-making frames 30through the spray nozzle 26 is called ‘ice-making water’. When theice-making water is sprayed to the ice-making frames 30 in theice-making process, some of the ice-making water sticks to the surfaceof the ice-making frames 30 under zero degrees and rapidly changes intoice and the other of the ice-making water drops back into the tub 20.

When ice sufficiently grows on the ice-making frames 30, heat transferfrom the evaporators 32 to the ice-making frames 30 decreases. That is,the temperature difference between the refrigerant flowing into theevaporator 32 and the refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 32 isnot large. For example, in the process (ice-making process) in which icecontinuously grows on the ice-making frame 30, the temperature of therefrigerant flowing into the evaporator 32 is about −20° C. and thetemperature of the refrigerant flowing out of the evaporator 32 is about−5° C. (temperature difference of 15° C.), but when a sufficient amountof ice grows on the ice-making frame 30, heat exchange does not occurany more, so the temperature of the refrigerant flowing into theevaporator 32 is about −20° C., while the temperature of the refrigerantflowing out of the evaporator 32 is about −15° C. (temperaturedifference of 5° C.). The temperature difference is detected by atemperature sensor (not illustrated) and a controller (not illustrated)determines that ice has been sufficiently made and stops the ice-makingprocess.

When the ice-making process is finished, the ice-separating process ofseparating the ice on the ice-making frames 30 from the ice-makingframes 30 is started.

The ice-separating process is carried out by putting a high-temperaturerefrigerant from an ice-separating pipe (a′) into the evaporators 32 bycontrolling a valve V2 above the ice-making frames 30 with thecontroller (not illustrated), and supplying ice-separating watersupplied from the outside of the ice-making frames 30 through a rawwater supply pipe 40. The ice-separating water is common water at a roomtemperature. The surface temperature of the ice-making frames 30 isincreased by heat supplied from the ice-separating water and thehigh-temperature refrigerant supplied to the upper portion of theice-making frames 30, and the ice on the inner sides of the ice-makingframes 30 melts. As time passes, the ice that has melted on the innersides of the ice-making frames 30 comes off the ice-making frames 30 andfall by gravity. The falling ices are kept into the bin 50 through anincliner 27 that is a net or a combination of horizontal members.

Meanwhile, the ice-separating water supplied through the raw watersupply pipe 40 is kept into the tub 20 through holes h of the ice-makingframes 30. The amount of the ice-separating water (water flowing intothe tub 20 through the raw water supply pipe 40) in the ice-separatingprocess is larger than the amount of ices produced in the ice-makingprocess (ices coming out into the bin 50). That is, the amount of theinflow ice-separating water is larger than the water coming out into thebin 50 as ices. Accordingly, in the related art, some of ice-separatingwater overflowed and was then discharged through the water level controlpipe 29. The ice-separating water was cold at 5 to 9° C., because itflowed into the tub 20 in contact with the ice-making frames 30 underzero degrees.

In the present invention, the low-temperature ice-separating water thathas been wasted through the water level control pipe 29 is used forcooling the condenser 73. This technical feature of the presentinvention will be described below.

After the ice-separating process is finished, the ice-making process isstarted again.

The machine room S2 is used to supply a low-temperature refrigerant inthe ice-making room S2 to the evaporators 32 through a refrigerant pipe(a) or supply a high-temperature refrigerant to the evaporators 32through the ice-separating pipe (a′). It is possible to select thetemperature of a refrigerant to be supplied to the evaporators 32 bydetermining that it is the ice-separating process or the ice-makingprocess and then controlling the valve V2 using the controller (notillustrated).

The high-temperature refrigerant that is supplied to the ice-separatingpipe (a′) has passed through a compressor 71, but not through thecondenser 73, so it is at high temperature and high pressure. On theother hand, the refrigerant that is supplied through the refrigerantpipe (a) has passed through the compressor 71, the condenser 73, and acapillary tube 76, so it is at low temperature and low pressure.

Although the ice-separating pipe (a′) of the machine room S2 and theice-separating pipe (a′) of the ice-making room S1 are separated in FIG.1 for making the configuration simple, they are actually connected toeach other. Further, the refrigerant pipe (a) of the machine room S2 andthe refrigerant pipe (a) of the ice-making room S1 are also connected toeach other.

2. Technical Features of the Present Invention

A technical feature of the present invention is to use low-temperatureice-separating water that has been wasted through the water levelcontrol pipe 29 in the past and ice water melting in the bin 50 to coolthe condenser 81 by supplying them to the condenser cooling system 80.

The condenser cooling system 80 includes: a humidifying module 81disposed close to the condenser 73; a cooling water storage 82 disposedunder the humidifying module 81 and connected with a water level controlpipe 29 connected to the ice-making room S1; a discharger 83 connectedto the cooling water storage 82 through a valve 831; and a second pump84 supplying cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 to thehumidifying module 81 through a cooling water circulation pipe 85.

The humidifying module 81 may be composed of a spray pipe 811 and acooling pad 812 disposed under the spray pipe 811 and having guides sothat cooling water sprayed from the spray pipe 811 can flow in a zigzagshape.

A porous spray pad 813 may be disposed between the spray pipe 811 andthe cooling pad 812.

Cooling water is supplied to the cooling pad 812 through the spray pipe811 of FIG. 2. Since the cooling pad 812 has the continuous zigzagguides, when cooling water is supplied to the top, it flows down alongthe guides. The cooling water can remain in the cooling pad 812 as longas possible by the zigzag guides. The guides may be made of paper suchas a corrugated cardboard, or may be made of metal, plastic, or fiber.Air can pass through the front and rear of the cooling pad 812. Airpassing through the cooling pad can take appropriate water from thecooling water and is sufficiently cooled by the cooling water at about9° C. Accordingly, when the air that has passed through the cooling pad812 passes through the condenser 73, the efficiency of cooling thecondenser 73 is improved. Further, since the cooling water flows down inthe cooling pad 812, dirt and foreign substances are removed down.Accordingly, the cooling pad 812 can be kept clean.

In the air cooling type of the related art, a filter is attached to aside of the condenser 73, so dirt collects on the filter while air takeninside by a cooling fan 74 flows through the filter. When the dirt isnot periodically removed, efficiency of the condenser 73 decreases. Inthe ice maker 100 of the present embodiment, since dirt is alwaysremoved, so deterioration of the efficiency of the condenser due to dirtis prevented.

Since the porous spray pad 813 is disposed between the spray pipe 811and the cooling pad 812, cooling water sprayed from the spray pipe 811is supplied and distributed well to the cooling pad 812.

The cooling water storage 82 is coupled to the bottom of the humidifyingmodule 81. The cooling water dropping through the humidifying module 81is kept in the cooling water storage 82. When the second pump 84 isoperated, cooling water is continuously supplied to the humidifyingmodule 81 through the cooling water circulation pipe 85. The coolingwater storage 82 is connected with the water level control pipe 29, soit is periodically supplied with the ice-separating water overflowingthe water level control pipe 29 (called “cooling water”, when it flowsin the cooling water storage 82) in the ice-separating process.

It is preferable to discharge the cooling water in the cooling waterstorage 82 through the discharger 83, before the ice-separating waterflows into the cooling water storage 82 in the ice-separating process.Accordingly, the cooling water storage 82 can always keep clean coolingwater. A valve 831 is disposed between the discharger 83 and the coolingwater storage 82.

The process that the ice-separating water flows into the cooling waterstorage 82, is used as cooling water, and continuously supplied to thehumidifying module 81 can be automatically performed by the controller.The controller (not illustrated) closes the valve 831 in the ice-makingprocess so that the cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 iscircularly supplied to the humidifying module 81 by the second pump 84.

The controller discharges the cooling water in the cooling water storage82 to the outside by opening the valve 831 before the ice-separatingprocess. Since the cooling water right before the ice-separating processhas been circulated several times and supplied to the humidifying module81, it has increased in temperature to the room temperature and includesa lot of dirt and foreign substances. The cooling water contaminated atthe room temperature is wasted right before the ice-separating process.

The controller closes the valve 831 in the ice-separating process sothat the ice-separating water overflowing the water level control pipe29 newly flows into the cooling water storage 82. As the ice-separatingwater newly flowing inside through the water level control pipe 29 iskept in the cooling water storage 82 and the used as cooling water, itis possible to always supply low-temperature clean cooling water to thehumidifying module 81.

The cooling fan 74 is disposed close to the condenser 73. The coolingfan 74 can take air inside so that external air can be supplied to thecondenser 73 through the humidifying module 81. The cooling fan 74 maybe disposed to push air so that external air is supplied to thecondenser 73 through the humidifying module 81, if necessary.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention were describedabove, they are just examples and claims of the present invention arenot limited thereto. Equivalent changes and modification by thoseskilled in the art should be construed as being included in the scope ofthe present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be used as a device for making ices.

1. An ice maker comprising: an ice-making room S1 having a module forproducing and keeping ices; a machine room S2 including a first pump 45circulating ice-making water and a condenser 73 cooling a refrigerant;and a condenser cooling system 80 disposed close to the condenser 73,wherein the condenser cooling system 80 includes: a humidifying module81 disposed close to the condenser 73; a cooling water storage 82disposed under the humidifying module 81 and connected with a waterlevel control pipe 29 connected to the ice-making room S1; a discharger83 connected to the cooling water storage 82 through a valve 831; and asecond pump 84 supplying cooling water in the cooling water storage 82to the humidifying module 81 through a cooling water circulation pipe85.
 2. The ice maker of claim 1, further comprising a controller thatcloses the valve 831 in an ice-making process so that the second pump 84circularly supplies cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 to thehumidifying module 81, that opens the valve 831 before an ice-separatingprocess so that the cooling water in the cooling water storage 82 isdischarged outside, and that closes the valve 831 in the ice-separatingprocess so that ice-separating water overflowing the water level controlpipe 29 flows into the cooling water storage
 82. 3. The ice maker ofclaim 2, wherein the humidifying module 81 includes: a spray pipe 811;and a cooling pad 812 disposed under the spray pipe 811 and functioningas a separator so that cooling water sprayed from the spray pipe 811 canflow in a zigzag shape.
 4. The ice maker of claim 3, wherein a porousspray pad 813 is disposed between the spray pipe 811 and the cooling pad812.
 5. The ice maker of claim 1, wherein a cooling fan 74 is disposedclose to the condenser 73.